7teen: Teens on Ice
by Dakari-King Mykan
Summary: S2 EPS 26 & 27: Season Finale: The mall in danger of being sold off, which might lead it to being closed down. This really disturbs everyone, but they manage to reach an ultimatum with the buyer. If the gang can successfully win at an ice hockey game, perhaps the mall will be spared, but the problem is getting the gang to become better players, and overcoming fears and problems.
1. Intro: Shocking news

**INTRO**

One day at the ice rink, Jude had specially kept the place open just for us guys so we could play a little ice hockey. Robbie and Diego joined us giving us an even six players. Joensy and Wyatt played as goalies and Robbie and Diego played on their own team against me and Jude.

Jude had the puck and skated towards Jonesy's goal net; When Robbie snuck up from behind and skidded under Jude's legs taking the puck with him. "Hey!" shouted Jude and then he slipped and fell.

I chased after Robbie, but he passed the puck to Diego, and then back again. I stole it back and made my way to center ice, and made a long shot towards the goal, but Jonesy caught it. "Yeah, baby! Who's D'man?" he hollered and passed the puck out to his brothers. They managed to evade me and Jude and head straight for Wyatt, who nervously shivered at his post. Diego slap-shot the puck hard and Wyatt ducked out of the way in panic letting it hit the back of the net.

The brothers rejoiced for yet another easy goal, but Jude and I slapped our heads in disgrace. "Dude… what was that?" snapped Jude.

"What? It was coming right at me." cried Wyatt.

"Um, kind of the point…" I said "The puck comes to you, and you stop it."

It was pretty obvious to us all that Wyatt was not goalie material. So he switched places with Jude. Jude did a much better job blocking the shots, and Wyatt was an okay skater, but he just couldn't seem to get the hang of skating and playing at the same time. "Whoa… you totally stink at hockey." Robbie teased. Even though that wasn't nice, every one of us agreed, even Wyatt did. "At least Serena doesn't have to know about this." he groaned.

We all decided to take a rest and head over to the lemon where Caitlin and Jen were sitting, and we talked about our gameplay, but it exceedingly difficult not to mention any of Wyatt's bumbling. He just pretended not to listen. "Just ignore them." Jen said "I'm sure with practice you'll get it."

Caitlin agreed "This one guy I know, he tried out for the hockey team, and he didn't do so well at the start."

"So what happened?" asked Wyatt.

"The team manager gave him a job as the water boy, and now he's the regional manager of all water boys."

Wyatt didn't think that was very enlightening.

Still, Jude loved his ice rink, and was glad to be in charge of it since he first lost his job. We all loved it, and were glad it was in the mall.

"Ahh, our mall…" sighed Jonesy "You can find practically anything in it."

"Amen to that." Wyatt agreed as his sipped his well brewed coffee. "I'm not sure where I've ever tasted better caffeine than this."

"All the cool sales and shopping." cried Caitlin.

"I can't picture any other place like it." added Jen.

"Well you may have to soon." Nikki said as she came up to the table with a sour look on her face. "What do you mean?" I asked. There was no easy way for Nikki to say what she had found out so she just up and blurted "…They might be selling the mall!"

Each of gasped, choked on our drinks or our own breaths, and Caitlin's heart skipped two beats!

**_Intro Theme_**

**_Jonesy… Caitlin… Wyatt… Jen… Jude… Nikki… Mykan_**

**_Jonesy… Caitlin… Wyatt… Jen… Jude… Nikki… Mykan_**

_Now that we're through with school  
we get to make all the rules  
spend more time with all my friends  
always hangin' together in a place where we grew up!_

_I'm 7teen…  
I have found my own way  
I love my job, and I live at the mall today  
And I am on my own now and forever_

_I'm… 7teen._  
_Life was sweet_  
_though we grew up way too fast_  
_Still, the memories will last_

**_Jonesy… Caitlin… Wyatt… Jen… Jude… Nikki… Mykan_**

**_Jonesy… Caitlin… Wyatt… Jen… Jude… Nikki… Mykan_**

**_1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6…_**

_I'm 7teen… 7…TEEN_

_Still, the memories will last._

**_Jonesy… Caitlin… Wyatt… Jen… Jude… Nikki… Mykan_**

**_7TEEN!_**

**_Author's notes:_**

**_I don't know much about hockey, but I'll do what I can. So just work with me._**


	2. What to do

**CHAPTER ONE**

"They're going to sell the mall?!" cried Caitlin.

"Where did you hear of this?" Jonesy asked in a slight panic. His wife explained that she was passing by the head offices on her way to work, and not really up for working as usual, when she couldn't help but overhear the men inside talking that they were defiantly considering selling the mall, and the buyer, whom she heard was called _Mr. Welton, _was planning to _"…close down the past and rip it all away, and change up for the future."_

And that the mall officials didn't want to sell, but they were agreeing to it, saying that they're money issues were looking terrible.

"They're going to tear the mall down!" cried Wyatt.

Caitlin burst into tears.

"Dude… my mellow is freakishly harshed now." groaned Jude. We could tell he was serious, as he only looked like he was going to be sick when he was really bummed.

"I don't believe this!" snarled Jen "They wouldn't just sell the mall without telling anyone."

"Yeah, maybe you just misunderstood." I said. That's when Ron passed by looking pretty glum. "No she's not, soldier." He said "I was there at that meeting. It's all true. We've fallen into hard times, and now we're going to have to pay up!" he say loud enough for everyone to hear which immediately started to pass the word along.

The gang and I all headed to the front doors of the mall, and sure enough, there was big "For Sale" sign on the grounds with "Sold" stamped on it, and beneath it read that in one month from today _"…The past will be closed down and ripped away and a new future will be made."_

"It is real!" cried Jonesy, and he slumped to the ground. Even his brothers didn't have any sense to laugh at him as they felt just as upset and shocked.

Nobody said anything after that. Our minds and hearts were going in twisters of sudden shock which slowly turned to sadness. To make things worse, as we walked back inside we noticed that some places were having all-out clearance sales, which obvious was linked to the mall being sold and ripped down.

I felt my anger rising, and I walked off in a huff. "Mykan, where are you going?" hollered Nikki. "I'm going to try and do something about this."

I went back to my store, Comic Cavern, and got out my phone-book. I was planning on calling up these people buying the mall and trying to get to the bottom of this. I found out that the buyer was Humphrey J. Welton. A rich businessman who owned a lot of industries and buildings, and his trademark saying _"Close down the past and rip it all away, and change up for the future."_

When I tried to call his head office, my first few times the lines were way busy. An hour later I managed to get a hold of Welton's secretary and she put me on a seriously long hold for two whole hours, and had half fallen asleep in my chair when I finally got my answer.

He seemed to speak politely, but he refused to answer any of my questions about the mall being bought. There was a hint of cheekiness in the sound of his voice. I tried to reason with him, but he hung on me after telling me the decision was final, and the mall would be his once the papers were all dealt with in one week.

Though the phone was hung up, I just sat where I was with a look of deep concern on my face and the phone still held to my ear.

Eventually I snapped out of it, and I managed to get back to the others and told them. "We have just one week?" snapped Jen.

"That's what he told me." I answered.

"Oh, man…!" groaned Jude as he slumped down into his seat like a melting freeze-pop.

"I guess that's it then." Jonesy said "We're going to have to pack it in and just as I got hired to my new job." He got out his cell phone and called his boss "Yeah, um… I just called to say that I quit."

Loud muffled growls and screams could be heard over the other end which actually ruffled Jonesy's hair. Then the line went dead. "I couldn't quit, he said."

"…Because you were fired?" Nikki asked. Her husband nodded. "Well, that's one thing taken care of."

Still, what were the rest of us going to do? This was all happening so fast, and already all around us other people weren't looking very happy either. "I guess we should all just head off to work then?" Jen suggested. Most of us agreed, but we didn't feel much like it… but we still left, and as we headed down the mall we began to remember many good times and things we had in it, and now it was all going downhill.

I tried calling Mr. Welton's office again in one last attempt to talk to him, but the guy worked fast and forbade me from calling him back again. One week, that was all we had. What were we going to do? What could we do?


	3. Protest

**CHAPTER TWO**

Over the past couple two days, faces grew sadder and the mall soon became a very gloomy place. Many of the people had lost their sparks and didn't feel like doing what they usually did. Stanley didn't feel like shooting his ball launcher at anyone. Darth and Julie didn't feel like quoting any Star Wars lines, and even Hiro wasn't feeling his usual honorable self and couldn't cut the sushi right.

Wyatt was at Spin This trying to find any song at all that would cheer him up at a time like this. Serena recommended he try Easy Listening Blues "Always perked me up when I was low." she said. Wyatt smiled sadly and softly embraced her. Serena felt no different than any of us. She loved the mall as much as everything in it and didn't want to see it closed down and ripped away.

…

Jude and Starr were riding the Zamboni together as Jude drove it around the rink. "I still don't understand why they would tear down a shopping mall with a fifty-one percent advantage over all other malls." Starr said.

"I'm just upset." Jude said "This mall is like… well… a mall to me." He remembered all the many jobs he had as manager, and all the places he skated around on his board. Easily his and Starr's best and near recent memory was their wedding being held there, when Jude was Prime Minister of Canada for only ten minutes.

Starr gloomily rested her head on her husband's shoulder, and Jude embraced his wife, letting go of the controls and the Zamboni slowly ran into the wall of the rink-barrier, and just stayed there.

…

Jonesy was hanging out with Nikki at the Khaki barn, and way over in the corner, The Clones were bawling like babies. Nikki decided to be nice and let them get it out of their systems. She almost felt like crying herself, but being who she was, she was able to hold it back. Jonesy didn't know what he was feeling. "What do you call that feeling when you're kind of sad, kind of angry, kind of frustrated, kind of scared, and… confused?"

"How about _Sangfruscaused…?"_ Nikki joked, merging all the words together, but it didn't make them feel any better. "If only there was some way we could contact Welton, maybe we could convince him not to rip up the mall."

"Oh-ho, I know I could convince him." Nikki snickered as she socked her fist into her other hand, but of course, she knew it wouldn't come to that.

…

Caitlin and I had gone to the Soda Hop and Amelie treated us to a big hot-fudge sundae, but she also joined us, feeling a bit heartbroken herself. "I've only known this mall for so long, but it almost feels like it was meant to be part of my life." Amelie said.

I wrapped my arm around my girlfriend and softly pecked her cheek. "It's been a part of all of our lives. I don't get how someone can't see that and just sell it off to a guy who probably doesn't care."

Caitlin picked at the ice-cream softly and licked the tip of her spoon. "There must be something we can do to save the mall." she said "It's like this one time when Trisha and I were still friends… our favorite beach-house shop was going out of business and about to be leveled , so we rallied up all the people in protest, and the house got saved."

Suddenly, she dropped her spoon realizing what she was saying, and Amelie and I happened on the same idea. Caitlin and I quickly got out our phones and called the gang. Caitlin called Jen. "A protest…? Duh! Why didn't we think of that before?" Jen snapped, feeling stupid. "Let's gather as many people as we possibly can."

It was long before the whole gang of all ten of us were aware of what was happening, and we all spread out across the mall getting people to join our protest, and by the end of the day, we had assembled quite an army of practically every shopper or worker in the mall, even some of our hated enemies were there, including Ron, Christo and Blade, even Wayne. The only one who wasn't there was Coach Halder.

Jen apologized and said that Coach hadn't been to work for days as he was helping out one of his private pupils in a sports-teaching. Still, with all that we had assembled, all the hollering protesters and signs we made- that was bound to get somebody's attention, and it worked. The police had soon arrived when our disturbing the peace was reported, followed by the news crews.

We stated our protests, and that we didn't want our beloved mall to be closed down… _but forgetting to mention we didn't want it torn down as well._

This went on the news live, and you can be Welton saw it. He sat in his office chair with his fingers drumming sinisterly on the arm rest. "Well, well…" he hissed softly "Looks like my little plan has gotten a bit out of hand for some."

He got on the phone and made a call to make a few arrangements. When all said and done he twiddled his fingers wickedly. "So, you don't like what I'm doing? Well, let's see how well things go when I step into the picture… literally."


	4. Ultimatum

**CHAPTER THREE**

The police had set up barriers around the mall, and kept all by-passers away from the protest area where the army was still hollering and protesting not to sell the mall. More reporters came to cover the footage, and many of them were denied entry by the authorities. Even some of the parents of the gang came by the scene and were also denied entry.

Nikki's folks were impressed by the way she was sticking up for what was right. "Like a true Wong, Nikki!" her father called out to her, but Jonesy' and Jen's folks couldn't believe what was going on, and had a feeling that Jen was behind this whole protest. Jonesy's father tried to get in to talk some sense into them, but he was held back by a tough cop. "Wow, tough crowd." said Courtney, but she cheered her sister on.

Soon, a squad of men dressed in suits were allowed entry onto the protest grounds, dragging with them TV equipment. "Cool…" said Jude "We're gonna be on TV."

"Jude, we've been on TV for hours." Wyatt said

"What are they doing then?" asked Caitlin "And does my hair look okay? After all I want to look good since we've been on TV." No one answered her and we continued to watch the men set up the screen and cables, and when the screen was activated we could see a sharp looking businessman sitting in his office.

I clenched my fist and gritted my teeth "It's him!" I sneered "I recognize his picture from the phonebook."

"So he's the one trying to buy the mall." said Wyatt, feeling his anger growing.

_"Greetings protesters…"_ the man said, his voice was amplified over the large speakers, and he was speaking to us through a camera in his own office. _"I am Humphrey J. Welton. Perhaps you've heard of me?"_

"Oh, we've heard of you, all right, Dude!" snarled Jude, but then his scratched his chin "Um… who are you really?"

The rest of us sighed in disgrace, and Jen stepped forward. "Why are you trying to buy out our mall?"

_"The same reason anyone would, my dear, it's a little thing I like to call… business… building up. You see, everything changes in the world, and there comes times when we just have to accept them. You just have to move on, not look back. I really don't see why that's become such an issue."_

"Yeah?!" snapped Nikki "Well did it ever occur to you that some of us happen to _like_ the way things are?"

_"Now, now… there's no need to be testy. Although I do admire it when people show their determination, let me assure you all, you're making such a big deal over nothing."_

Serena scoffed at him "Well, guess what… we don't think what you plan to do to the mall is a _little deal_ either."

Amelie spit on the ground like the proud French girl she was "We spit at what you are trying to do!"

"If you were really doing this for good then you'd tell us why you're doing it at all." growled Starr, but once again, Welton refused insisting that in time we'd all agree that what he was doing was for everyone's good, still acting just as cheeky when I talked to him over the phone.

Then we and the army all started chanting _"Don't buy the mall! Don't buy the mall! Don't buy the mall!"_

Welton was starting to like our determination more and more. He thought it over for a while not saying anything, and finally _"Since I like your determination, I tell you what… why don't we, as we do in business, agree to an ultimatum."_

We all learned in forward with great interest. _"You heard me, and if you win, I won't buyout your mall, but fail and I proceed as planned with no further obstacles."_

"We're listening." said Jen.

Welton grinned sinisterly and asked _"Tell me, do any of you like ice-hockey?"_

Jonesy and Jude raised their hands with glee and excitement, but suddenly they felt as confused as the rest of us. "Hockey?" asked Jonesy.

Welton nodded and explained the challenge was very simple. It was now only Tuesday night. On Saturday there would be a hockey game held at the mall's rink. As well as owning buildings, Welton had his own personal hockey team ready. "But who's going to play against them?" asked Wyatt.

Welton gazed at us fluttering his sinister eyebrows which immediately told us that we were going to. After all, since we were the ring-leaders of the protest, the obvious it would have to be the ten of us, plus two extra players of our choosing to help defend the mall. "You are so on!" Jonesy immediately said without thinking it through.

"Jonesy!" snapped Jen, but Jude agreed too, which only further delighted Welton, but the rest of us were appalled, and before we could protest, Welton agreed that the bet was officially on. _"Oh, and one final thing."_ he said _"Allow me to show you my team whom you'll be playing against."_ He clicked on a remote control, and the screen images showed fourteen ribbed and tough looking men dressed in jerseys, eager to play. They were the _Welton Winners_, that's what they called themselves.

Just one look at those brutes alone made our eyes bulge and our mouths drop wide open in shock and fear. "Dudes…" Jude said "I think we're toast!"


	5. Pitiful Practice

**CHAPTER FOUR**

The next day, all ten of us met up at the ice-rink, a lot of us were still upset with Jonesy for getting into this without even giving us a chance to consult. "Hey, what difference would it have made if I did or didn't?" he snapped.

"I hate to say it, but he's got a point." said Nikki "At least we have a chance to defend the mall now."

"Some chance we've got." Wyatt said "You saw those guys, and most of us can't even play hockey. We don't stand a chance."

A lot of us agreed to that. Wyatt was no good at the game. Nikki was still not much of a skater. Those of us who could skate weren't good at both skating and playing at the same time. Starr had played road hockey, but not ice-hockey, and the only experience Amelie ever had was helping her father load his hockey gear up when he went off to play hockey with his friends when she lived in France.

The most experienced players we had so far were Jonesy, Jude, and Jen, and we still had to find two other players to join us to make an even dozen. Right now, the obvious thing for us to do was practice. It was Wednesday and that gave us only two days to practice and get ready…. Two and a-half topped, which only further increased our doubts of having a chance at all.

Nonetheless, we were outfitted with gear and sticks Jude had locked up in storage. Caitlin found it hard to move in such bulky clothes, and she took just one step on the ice and slipped and fell onto her back. "How do people use these things? Can't I adjust it?" she asked in complaint.

"Sorry, brah… one size, fits all." Jude told her. That's when we all heard Nikki yelled out as she slipped and skidded along the ice just trying to keep her balance, and she crashed into Amelie, Starr, and Serena, and the all fell down in a big pile. "I don't think we're off to a good start." groaned Starr. "Ya think!" grumbled Serena.

We kept on trying, but the more we practiced the only thing most of the gang seemed to be perfecting was screwing up and looking like idiots. Nikki was still having trouble just standing up, and even if she did, all she did was move one millimetre in any direction and she was down again.

Amelie was getting the hang of staying on her feet and skating, but she couldn't seem to hold the stick right or hit the puck too well. "Oh… _Sacre Bleu!_ Come on!" she groaned. Finally she managed to hit it, only a few measly feet!

Wyatt was still not doing very well, himself, but Serena seemed to have it the absolute worst, being one not really fond of the game at all, she hardly like anything of what she was doing at all which lead to mess up the most.

"Come on, you guys!" Jonesy snarled, sounding like a big angry coach "We gotta get our rears in gear here!"

"Gee, thanks for the motivation, coach!" Jen growled at him.

"Jonesy, will you be sensible?" I snapped at him "We can't all learn to play and master hockey in one day. At the rate we're going it'll probably take us a year!"

"No we won't." Jonesy said "I wasn't Captain of the junior high hockey team for nothing, you know."

Nikki gazed at him from afar "No, you got there only because the real captain had mono."

The rest of the gang felt like taking a much needed break. Especially Caitlin she rubbed her rear softly. "Ooh… I haven't felt this sore since… ever!" she groaned.

Jonesy tried to protest. "Wait, you guys can't go. You haven't even made one goal yet." But the gang headed out. Even Jude thought he'd take five too, or maybe ten, twenty…!

"See what happens what you're big mouth gets us into?" Jen said and she skated off leaving Jonesy on his own. He gazed down at a puck near his skate and kicked it, which caused him to slip and fall onto his back. "Ah, man!"

Then suddenly he heard the sound of a whistle blowing. It was Coach Halder returned from his gig. "On your feet, Garcia…!"

"Oh, hey, Coach."

"Don't you "hey coach" me, son. I saw your friends walk out of here like a disheartened team breaking up, and you know I don't like to see that. What's all the fuss about anyway?"

Jonesy explained to Coach about Welton and the ultimatum, and the crisis involving the mall, and Coach… he pretty much felt as if he had eaten one of Jude's insanely hot stick-its again, only this time the feeling was not fun or comforting. "We don't stand a chance against those monsters."

Coach gave Jonesy a small slap. "You listen to me now, son. When I was a boy, my daddy wanted me to be the star player, but I messed up at every corner there was, and my daddy said to me… _"Son, you're trying too hard. You've got lots of guts, and lots of determination, but you're missing one thing very important."_

"And what's that?" asked Jonesy.

Coach pointed hard at Jonesy's chest "…It's heart, sport! Winning a game doesn't take just skills and practice. You gotta get your heart in the game son. Without it, you may as well bench yourself at home and never even mention the word sports again. It's all about the right motivation."

Jonesy was taken in deeply by Coach's words, not to mention his years of experience. "I'll be right back." he said and he ran to fetch the rest of us.

"This better be good." Nikki said.

"Oh, trust me, it is. I just got us someone who can help us on the way for sure." Jonesy said, and we all heard Coach blow his whistle "All right team, let's fall in line here."

"Coach?!" snapped Jen in shock.

"Eyes forward, Masterson!"

Jen snapped upright and stood stiff and still. We all did and stood in line, and Coach told us what Jonesy had told him, and gave us his heart lecture. This did help us realize that we were playing the game to save the mall, which did make eager to tryout some more. "You see, all it takes is the right motivation." Coach said "But there's also something else you all need, and that's an instructor to point you in the right direction."

"And I suppose you're stepping in for the job?" asked Wyatt, and Coach waltzed right up to him saying loud and clear in his face "YOU BET'CHA!" Wyatt almost felt like fainting.

"So… all of you get your heads out of the clouds. Get your skates on the rink, and keep your whining to yourselves. I am going to turn you lousy bunch of kids into a team of rough and tough hockey players even if it kills me!"

"Or one of us…" Jen said nervously. She knew Coach was rough enough at work, she had never actually been coached by him before. None of us had, and we all had a serious feeling we were in bigger trouble than ever.

**_To Be Continued…!_**


	6. Toughen up

**_(Jonesy's Voice)_**

**_"Last time on 7teen…_**

**_Word on the street was that some guy named Welton bought our mall, and we all immediately swore he was going to rip it down. So we managed to rally up a protest to try and convince the deal not to go through. Welton challenged us, that if we could win a hockey game against his ribbed team of brutes, he'd bug off, but our team spirit and style wasn't all it was cracked up to be, not until Coach Halder came and perked up our spirits and agreed to coach us._**

**_We don't have much time before the big game, so let's get moving!_**

**_(Skip the intro)_**

**CHAPTER FIVE**

The first thing Coach had us do was get out of all our hockey gears, even our skates, because he first wanted us to warm up a bit as every sports expert did. So he had us doing many drills which included fifty push-ups…

Running laps around the mall, up and down the stairs and all the way around, while carrying heavy weight stones from the penalty box…

Any time one of us appeared to be slacking, or so much as complained about anything, Coach blew his whistle and really shouted up a storm prompting us to keep going. Caitlin felt as if she had been on fifty shopping trips all at once, and Jude was getting so hot and sweaty that he almost resorted to lick the sweat off of himself for refreshments, which grossed some of us out.

Coach even had us hanging from bars upside down to get the blood rushing to our heads and to straighten out our backs. "Exactly… what is this for again!" groaned Nikki. Coach playfully smacked her across the back. "Good posture is essential for every sports player. How do you think they came to be so tall and strong?"

"Dude… I think I'm going to be sick!" groaned Jude.

"Please… don't, Jude." cried Starr "I don't know how much more of this I can take. Too much exercise has been scientifically proven to be bad for people."

"Well, guess what missy? I don't believe in that hogwash." said Coach.

By the end of our workout, the mall was almost ready to close for the night, and we were all really wiped out. "Fine job, team." said Coach "Now, I expect you all here bright an early at six A.M sharp, and no later."

Each of us gasped and groaned in shock, but Coach wouldn't hear of it. "Do you want to lose your precious mall? Because I don't! I'm not trying to coach a bunch of quitters? Now all of you, out of my sights and be back here by six or else. Go! Go! Go!" and we all dashed out of the rink arena in a heartbeat, but we all still felt pretty beaten.

The gang didn't think they had the strength to stand around and wait for the bus, so I invited them all up to my apartment for some sodas and to cool off, and catch a bus later.

My dog, Penny, was very jumpy and happy to see everyone, but none of us felt like doing much. "Uhn…! Do I have a headache or what?" groaned Wyatt.

"Welcome to my living nightmare." said Jen "I have to put up with that attitude almost every day. It's like I can hear him in my head."

Just then she swore she could hear Coach bellowing at her. _"You're offside, Masterson. Five minute foul! Now! Now! Now…!"_

"Yes, Coach!" Jen cried and went and threw herself into my broom closet, she felt really silly when she came to her senses, but none of us laughed at her. Amelie rubbed her back "Oh, I feel so sore." she groaned. I walked up behind my girlfriend and massaged her shoulders "Feel better now?" I said tenderly. Amelie sighed heavenly and snuggled up against me. Everyone sighed lovingly at us.

Pretty soon, the others felt rested enough to head on home. Most of the others took a bus home, while I decided to drive Amelie and Jonesy and Jen home in my car. We were all going to have a very busy day tomorrow.

That night, we all had disturbing dreams about losing the hockey game, and the mall, and as punishment, Coach Halder put us through the most intensive _"…Until the end of time!"_

We all woke up form this horrid nightmare just in time the next morning to head to the mall on time, and practically eager for our next day of training. "I see you're all well on time." Coach said when we got to the rink.

_"YES COACH!"_ we all said, saluting to him. Coach smiled that we were all showing more initiative. It proved that our motivation and hearts were getting deeper into the game.

Today we practiced at the gameplay itself, and it surprised us that our workout from yesterday helped us more than we thought. Nikki was able to keep her balance easier, but she still couldn't play very well, but was good at intercepting. So, she would take place as our frontline goalie. Wyatt wasn't very good at playing so he would be standby goalie.

Jonesy, Jen, and Jude were phenomenal with their skills. So they would defiantly be playing on the ice. That made four good players on ice so far.

Amelie, Starr, and I were goo at the skating bit. Especially Amelie and I with our skate-dancing tricks, we all felt would come in handy. Amelie was starting to get the hang of passing, and Starr was great at shooting.

Caitlin and Serena however were still having extreme difficulties. They were getting the hang of skating, and intercepting the puck with their sticks, but they still weren't good shooters, or even good at skating with the puck in possession.

"Ah, not to worry ladies. You'll get the hang of it." Coach said.

"What makes you so sure?" asked Serena.

"…Because if you don't, you're benched."

Caitlin and Serena gasped and trained harder, but still didn't improve much. Ultimately, by the end of our training that day, Serena, Wyatt, and Caitlin were benched for sure and would only be called out on the ice if needed desperately. They took it really well.

The rest of us felt a bit ready, but still remained doubtful, and we all suddenly realized "Don't we need two extra players." asked Jonesy.

"We don't have any?" cried Jen.

We had all been so busy with training it had completely slipped our minds. "Now, calm down! Calm down!" Coach said to us "You just leave that all to me, and I'll see you all at the game tomorrow night."

Tomorrow night… the big game…!

There was no turning back now! The fate of our beloved mall depended on it.

**_Author's notes:_**

**_Well just about Game Time…_**

**_All I can say is…boy you viewers are in for a SURPRISE, two actually._**


	7. Game on!

**CHAPTER SIX**

Big banners were put up around the mall reading _"Tonight, The **Ultimate** Game!"_ Some people had set up mini-camp spots anxiously awaiting tickets to go on sale, but the gang and I hadn't shown up that day. We were all given the day off from work so we could rest and prepare for the game, but we kept in contact with each other by our phones.

All of us weren't feeling nervous. What we felt was way beyond it. Two days of training with Coach Halder did help most of the gang to develop slight skills, but our doubts were still sky high, but we knew that if we turned our backs on the game now we'd be letting everyone else down too, and our mall would be doomed for sure.

Still, what we wondered most was who our two extra players would be. None of us had heard a word from Coach, but he assured us last night that it would be okay.

By Six P.M, it was nearly time- The ice rink was packed, and those unable to buy tickets were viewing the live broadcast from the mall Jumbotron, or from any T.V screen anyplace else, Grinde-Me, Stereo Shack, Ron watched the game live from the mall security cameras in his office and even had popcorn with him. "I love a good battle for what's right." he said with joy.

And in the locker room of the rink, all of us were suiting up in better outfits and gear. Our team name was _"Teen Squad"_ and our outfits were our trademark banner color of purple and orange. "Nice!" Caitlin said admiring the fashion qualities. "I wonder what else we could make with these colors."

"Focus, Caitlin." I said as I fitted my goggles over my shades, and everyone else was preparing too. Amelie tied her voluminous hair in several long braids and then clipped them to her head and fit her helmet in place.

Jude tapped up his hockey stick several times over. "Oh! Maybe I used a little too much."

Nikki, fit her new goalie gear on growling like a bear. She looked ready and raring to go. "Bring it on." she hissed.

"Oh, yeah…!" Jonesy said "They are so… going… down…!" and in his egotistical act, he slipped and fell down. Jen laughed "Yeah really going down." The rest of us laughed at him.

Soon, Coach came in and dressed in his own hockey gear, revealing he was going to be our player-coach, which none of us actually seemed to mind, and next to him stood a young man with short brown hair and a buff bod.

**_(Woo-ooo)_**

Caitlin got one look at him. "Hello…" she said in a flirting manner.

"Hey, back at you." The guy said. His name was Willy, and he was the private student Coach had been teaching to play ice-hockey. "He's a smart young fella, he is, and with us on the team we'll be unstoppable now." Coach said. "Now let's go out there and kick some butt!"

_"YEAH!"_ we all cheered.

The rink was all set. The crowds were loudly cheering, and Welton arrived and took his special seat where he could see everything. "Oh my, my…" he hissed softly "Those teens are sure in for a surprise, game or not."

Soon, the announcer, a big man in a suit, welcomed everyone and announced the starting lineup for the ultimate game. Nikki, Jonesy, Jude, Jen, Coach, and Willy were up first and skated out onto the rink as announced. The rest of us sat on the sidelines cheering the gang on, and then… they came… the Welton Winners and they were just as big and as fierce looking as ever. "What are you looking at?" one of them growled. Jude almost felt like fainting at the sight of those beasts.

The announcer decided that we'd forgo the national anthem, seeing as this was just a plain hockey game. "And now… ladies and gentlemen… let's get ready to rumble!" The crowd cheered and the whole place lit up as the players took their positions and the referee skated out to drop the first puck of the first period. "Players ready…?"

…It was on!

Coach whacked the puck hard sending it straight across the ice and Jude caught it. "Dude, I got it!" he hollered as he skated along his way, as three Winners stampeded towards him. "Jude, pass it!" shouted Jonesy, and Jude did so just in time, but the second he turned around, one of the Winners stole it off him. "Thanks pal!"

"Hey!"

The team tried its best, but those brutes weren't only big, they were super-fast. Nikki stood ready to defend and managed to save the first shot, but such power in that one his mad her feel she had intercepted a shot-put weight, making the crowds gasp, but she was okay thanks to her gear and passed the puck to Willy and he and Jen passed it back and forth making their way out to center-ice. "Pass it!" shouted Willy and Jen did so.

Willy skillfully skated past the oncoming big boys and keep them from taking the puck. "Wow…! He's awesome." Caitlin sighed. She felt more attracted to him than ever.

Willy shot at the goal, but the goalie saved it and whacked the puck to his teammates. They skated past all our players, and reached our goal. Nikki blocked one shot, but the Winners shot again and goaled!

**_(Winners: 1) (Teen Squad: 0)_**

Welton was pleased, but the crowds were outraged, and so were all team, but it was just one goal and there was plenty of game left.

Coach had the puck and made it to center-ice as he got surrounded by the Winners "Bring it on, chubs!" he hollered and skidded to a total halt, slapping the puck hard towards Jonesy. "I got it!" he hollered and he skated towards the goal. "Jonesy behind you!" cried Jen. Jonesy looked back and saw he was being chased by one of the Winners "Come here you little pipsqueak!" he roared.

Jonesy screamed, and not watching where he was going he crashed right into another one of the Winners, like crashed head first into a solid brick wall. Jonesy went down with a gong sounding in his head worrying the crowds. No foul was made as it was his own fault of not looking, and the Winners got the puck again and headed for Nikki.

"Not this time, boys!" she growled and stood ready to save. She blocked several shots all in a row, and Coach came along and managed to steal the puck. "MASTERSON…!" he hollered and shot her the puck.

"I got it! I got it!" cried Jen, but she slipped a bit and missed. "It's okay, bra!" hollered Jude as he took it and headed for the goal. He shot, and missed the net, but Willy skated up to help him and the played a bit of pass around to try and distract the goalie, but to no avail… the puck got saved and was shot way out to the other Winners at the other end, and with all the players at the other end, Nikki was against a whole army… and another goal was made!

**_(Winners: 2) (Teen Squad: 0)_**

"Zut-A-Lors!" cried Amelie.

"We are so getting creamed!" added Serena.

"Come on, guys!" I hollered "We can do this!" but the Winners made a third goal right there!

**_(Winners: 3) (Teen Squad: 0)_**

The ref soon blew his whistle announcing the end of the period. Most of our players looked wiped out, while the Winners seemed to have hardly have broken any sweats. The crowds hopes were just like ours, fading rapidly.


	8. Back in and Back out

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

This was a tragedy none of us were willing to bear, even with two whole periods left to play; we were down three to nothing and worse yet. We'd have to switch players on the ice now to give some of the others a rest. The Winners would be replaced by fresh players, but as for us… Jen, Coach and Willy were the only three in. Nikki, Jude and Jonesy were all still feeling a bit sore. Nikki felt it hurt to even move her arms. "Uhn…! It feels like I was trying to push a mountain." she groaned.

"Speak for yourself." groaned Jonesy "My head is still running from that big crash."

The biggest thing that got us all down was the fact that we were losing, which meant the mall was doomed. "What's the matter with all of you?!" snarled Coach "After all we've been through you're ready to pack it in and throw in the towel already."

_"YES!"_ we all shouted.

Coach felt speechless. "Oh… well… I… uh…"

"We just don't stand a chance against those monsters." said Wyatt.

"Mmm-Mhn… they'll flatten us like pancakes." added Serena.

Starr used her calculator and scribbled down a formula on the sole of her skate "Our chances of winning are somewhere within… 0.01 to 99.9!"

Hearing that only further dismayed us. "Let's face it…" Jonesy said "We've tried, but those dudes are just too big."

We all agreed, but suddenly I had a thought "Too big…?" I thought it over and realized "…Too big! That's it!" The others all gazed at me. "Don't you guys see? Maybe we can use this to our advantage."

"What advantage?" Caitlin asked. I huddled everyone around and explained my idea. It was a long shot and most likely, not likely, to work, but in our situation what had we to lose… other than the mall, but the others felt it was worth a shot.

With our confidence rising, we headed back out to begin period two.

Despite the crowd doubts, they still cheered for us, having earlier fearing that we wouldn't come out again. Welton was astonished. "Are they still trying?! They're either very determined, or very foolish. No matter…" He snapped his fingers and his team went back out onto the rink.

Amelie, Starr and I were out on the field. Starr was goalie. The huge Winners growled at us, but we glared and growled right back at them.

The ref dropped the puck, and the Winner's got it and rushed to our goal, but I skated ahead "Coming through!" grabbed the puck and skidding neatly under and through the huge man's legs, surprising him. Two more Winners chased me down, and I waited until they got close, and at the last second I passed the puck to Willy, and he scored the goal! Screams of delight echoed in the arena.

**_(Winners: 3) (Teen Squad: 1)_**

Welton dropped his popcorn in shock. "I don't believe it." he muttered.

The rest of our team went wild and jumped for joy.

The Winners had the puck and were heading towards Starr at the goal, and she just stood there keeping her eye on the puck and smirking wickedly. She did the math in her head and judging by the speed, and force of the player's aim and slap, it was easy for her to intercept the puck for a perfect save. Then she lined up and eyed the ice and the positions of the players, and she spotted Jen standing perfectly where she needed her to be, and she gave the puck a huge whack… sending it zooming across the ice and bouncing off the barrier, like a bullet and going past each and every player and finally hitting Jen's hockey stick and into the goal net.

**_(Winners: 3) (Teen Squad: 2)_**

We were right back in the game now. My strategy was working. The Winners were big, and they were ferric looking, but defiantly not to smart or slick. It was a battle of brains against brawn.

Still, even with our new strategy, the Winners decided to get tougher, and did manage to steal the puck from us, and score twice.

**_(Winners: 5) (Teen Squad: 2)_**

Putting us right back in the trenches, but by the end of the period, Amelie and I had scored two more goals by trick playing using our figure and dance skating to confuse the other team. We twirled, leapt, and skidded about.

**_(Winners: 5) (Teen Squad: 4)_**

With another whole period left to go. Things were looking more than just a bit hopeful for us. "See what I told ya, kids. Put your hearts in the game, and we can't lose." Coach said. We all felt that we had a chance now… except Willy gasped and fell on the floor, holding his ankle in extreme pain. He had an extreme cramp from playing too hard. He could hardly stand up.

"What, a cramp?!" snapped Coach "Nonsense, I've seen, players score winners in open time with busted limbs. So I don't want to hear… AH!" he stopped when Willy took off his skate and we could see for ourselves that his ankle was really swollen and throbbing. Caitlin almost felt like vomiting. "I think I need to sit… way over here." She said indicating she was losing interest in him already.

Coach had never seen anything so horrible, that he began to feel… numb in his chest as his heart condition was acting up. "Oh, no…!" he groaned and angrily pounded his chest "Come on, stay in the game!" but we all ushered him to lie down and sit the rest of the game out.

This worried us all. Our two ace players were down and out. "Come on, we can still take them on." Jen said. A lot of us were inclined to agree. After all, we discovered the Winners' weakness, and maybe we could do well on our own.

However, when third period began, the Winners were turning into Sore Winners, rather than losers, aggravated that we actually managed to pull through and began to play dirty, resulting in many of us getting tripped, shoved, even Starr getting smacked hard with the puck that her glasses broke under the strain. The crowds were outraged and the ref called for extreme penalties resulting in the disqualification of many of the Winners, but there were still six of them left to still play in the game, but a major timeout was called so our team could seriously regroup.


	9. Last Minute trials

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Only ten minutes left in the period, and our team was in bad shape. Willy was still hurt; Coach's heart was in bad shape. Nikki's arms were still too sore to handle another goal, and Starr couldn't see well with her glasses busted. "I should really wear my contacts again." she said.

Jen was really tired and dizzy form overplaying and as much as she didn't want to. She was forced to sit out.

Jonesy and Jude were rested up, but four more players were still needed. Serena, Wyatt, and Caitlin were the only players we had left who hadn't played at all, and we had to let them out onto the rink, but left us short one player. Amelie and I were the only ones left who still had a little spunk left in us… just a little.

So we played Rock, Paper, Scissors, and she won, which meant I'd have to sit out. We had no choice, but at least we were given an extreme penalty shot for all of the Winners poor conduct in thrashing us about. They were also forbidden from showing any more bad conduct

Jonesy stepped up to take the shot, and he made the goal, tying both sides five to five, but we still needed one more goal to win, and the real game was on after that shot, and Wyatt was in our goal net. "Oh, man…" he groaned feeling small and meek as he saw those big brutes coming straight him. They shot… and… he saved, much to his surprise, and everyone else's astonishment.

He passed the puck out again, but the Winners managed to grab it and shoot at our goal again, and Wyatt blocked it. He was starting to understand why… the thought of saving the mall was giving him the right motivation he needed to face up to the puck.

Serena felt the same and this gave her the edge she needed to intercept and steal the puck. "Jude, catch…!" she shouted and passed the puck, but Jude was surrounded. "Jude! Jude!" shouted Caitlin "Come on, I'm open! I'm open!"

Jude passed her the puck. "I got it!" she cheered, but then she looked up ahead and saw those big brutes coming right at her. She screamed her trademark scream, and shot the puck away from her just as the brutes collided in her and sent her sliding hard into Amelie, as for the puck, it got saved by the Winners' goalie, but the ref blew his whistle for a time-out.

Caitlin was scared out of her mind that she fell into half shock. She sat on the bench quivering with chills of fright, and didn't blink her eyes as if she had forgotten how. "I'm not going back out there! Defiantly not going back out there…!" We decided to let her stay down.

Amelie finally realized she didn't have enough strength to go on, which meant neither would I. There was only three minutes left of the final period, and we still needed two more players, or we'd have to forfeit. "But who can we call on at such short notice?" I asked.

That's when the door to our locker room opened and in walked Robbie and Diego. "You called?" Robbie said. "There are our two players." Jonesy said, and explained he had called them earlier after the Winners had thrashed us about, thinking they would be great to have on the team as substitutes.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Jen.

"We don't exactly have much of a choice." Jude said.

"Yeah, it's either that or, we can kiss the game and the mall goodbye." added Serena.

"So, are we going to play or what?" snapped Diego.

With no other choice, we agreed. All we needed was one goal, just one. Robbie and Diego even had a strategy to help us get the puck to the goal, but it would require total precision. One screw up and we'd be toast.

This was it! Really it! The last minutes of the final period were ticking. "It's go time!" Robbie hissed as he tipped his helmet visor down. The Winners had the puck, but Robbie skated like lightning stealing it "Coming through!"

He passed it to Diego. "This must be mine!" He skated along head straight towards three oncoming Winners. "Okay I'm going this way… no that way… here we go!" All his chattering and twisted words confused the players letting him sneak through and pass the puck to Jonesy.

Two minutes were left…!

Jonesy skated towards the goal, but the puck was stolen from him. The winners headed for our goal and shot. Wyatt saved it and threw it back out to Diego.

Sixty seconds were left…!

"Dude, Dude! I'm open!" hollered Jude. Jonesy passed to Jude, but one of the Winners stepped in front of him. "It's mine!" he chuckled.

"Think again!" said Serena as she quickly snatched the puck away and carried it to center ice.

Forty-Five seconds left!

Serena passed center ice and headed for the goal when two more of the Winners blocked her off. "Yo, pass it!" hollered Diego. Serena did so, and Robbie skated up to join them. Surrounding the goal, passing back and forth to one another in attempt to make the goalie dizzy, but to no avail… they shot and the goalie saved it, and passed it back out to his team mates.

Less than thirty seconds to go…!

"Stop them, Jonesy!" Wyatt hollered.

The crowds couldn't stand the suspense, and neither could the rest of us, but Jonesy was unable to reach the puck, and the Winners made it to the goal. Wyatt saved one shot, then another, and two more… but suddenly he had one teensy slip up.

**_(Slow motion)_**

"NO…!" he cried as the puck slipped right past him and hit the back of the net.

**_(Regular speed)_**

The crowds couldn't believe it. We couldn't believe it, but the loud sound of the buzzer said it all. Game over… We lost five six to five!

**_Author's notes:_**

**_SURPRISE! Haw, Haw, Haw...!_**


	10. Semantics

**CHAPTER NINE**

Welton nodded in proud triumph, but most of the arena was silent as every single person from the mall couldn't believe it, but no one felt as devastated as we felt. "We lost…!" cried Caitlin.

"No! We came so far!" cried Jen.

"I knew something like this would happen. I felt it in my gut." Nikki said trying to hide her tears of shame. Amelie and I held each other's hands and squeezing tighter than ever before.

We lost the game, and Welton won the bet. So, the mall was going to be his, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The players all came back into the locker room, covered in food stains, courtesy of the crowd throwing their snacks at them in protest to their losing, and all of them feeling ashamed. Robbie and Diego exchanged turns throwing insults at Wyatt for letting the Winners score that goal which ruined everything. A lot of us were annoyed with him for that, even Wyatt was upset with himself, but fuming about it wouldn't make things any different.

"We tried! We really tried!" cried Wyatt.

"…But it just wasn't enough." I said.

Coach was starting to wish he was just hallucinating from his pass out. "I can't believe it! I won't believe it." All that time he spent training us, lecturing us on putting our hearts in the game "…I'm a failure!"

"No, Coach, don't say that." said Willy. "You're the greatest I've ever known."

We all nodded in agreement, which brought a tear to Coach's eye, but our mood was suddenly interrupted by the presence of Welton. "Well… that was a lovely game wasn't it?" he said sounding very pleased. "You may have lost, but you gave it your all and I'm very impressed."

None of us seemed enlightened with his attitude or compliment, but the time had come for us to accept our defeat. "Just promise us one thing…" Jonesy said "That you'll let us say goodbye to the mall before you tear it down."

Welton blinked in confusion. "Beg your pardon…? Tear down the mall?"

"Yes…" Jen said "That's what you're planning, isn't it? Close down the mall and then tear it down."

Welton felt almost insulted. "What?!" he snarled "You thought I was… oh, no, no…!"

Now we felt confused. "You're not going to tear the mall down?" asked Caitlin.

"Absolutely not!" said Welton "Where in the world did you ever get an idea like that?" He went to explain that he bought the mall from the previous owners because they wanted to retire and move on to enjoy life. Welton knew what a wonderful place the mall was, but it was in desperate need, and long overdue for some small renovations. That was why many of the stores were having clearance sales, and the mall was going to be closed down… for a week or two at the least.

"But then, why do you keep gloating about… _close down zee past and rip it all away, and change up for zee future?" _asked Amelie.

Welton explained that was just his business slogan, it was just a simple saying, but it didn't really mean he would tear buildings down, not without extreme good reason. Finally, Welton understood why all this trouble started, and all of us had never felt so silly, embarrassed, not to mention infuriated with ourselves and others. "We went through all of this because of semantics…?" said Jude and he grabbed Diego and shook him vigorously shouting "WE WENT THROUGH ALL THIS BECAUSE OF SEMANTICS?!"

Some of the others held Jude back. "What are you crazy?!" snapped Diego.

Now we all felt really stupid. "Mr. Welton…" I said "It looks like we owe you one heck of an apology."

"Your apology is not accepted…" said Welton "…Because it seems I'm just as much to blame." He explained that he often had a habit of getting a little carried away in his businesses, and sometimes acted like an evil miser whenever he was doing so well that would constantly forget to be more verbally open with other people which often lead to these same misunderstandings. "If anything… I should be apologizing as well, seeing as all the trouble I've caused. Therefore, allow me to make it up to you…" he wrote a check and handed it to me. "Whoa!" I said, and the others agreed "Dude…!" cried Jude and he drooled like crazy.

This was more than enough to compensate for Starr glasses, and our getting hurt from the Winners, whom Welton was planning to severely reprimand for their poor sports-conduct during the game. "What are we going to do with all this?" asked Wyatt, but somehow we all happened upon the same idea.

…

A couple of weeks later, after the promised renovations, and the mall reopened. We used money to throw a huge party to celebrate the new era of the mall, and to our new landlord, Welton. There were all the pizzas, burgers and snacks we could eat, songs and dances, we even hired DawgToy to play live for us. All the girls in the gang went wild and even got invited up on stage to dance with them. Nikki was especially crazy to do it, much to Jonesy's dismay, but the party was so intense he didn't really make a big deal out of it.

"Man! I can't believe all this happened over a simple misunderstanding." I said.

"Maybe we should do it again sometime." Jonesy said, but we all agreed not to as it wouldn't be fair to others as well as ourselves. For now, though we lost the game, we gained far more than what we almost lost… and we continued to party away.

**_(Ending theme)_**

_I'm 7teen…  
__I have found my own way  
__I love my job and I live at the mall today.  
__And I am on my own now and forever._

_I'm 7teen… 7TEEN…!_

_Still, the memories will last._

**_Jonesy… Caitlin… Wyatt… Jen… Jude… Nikki… Mykan_**

**_"7TEEN"_**

**_Author's notes:_**

**_I officially declare Season 2 CLOSED…_**

**_Now, AT LONG LAST… I can do the World of Warfare!_**


End file.
